Sine Qua Non

"Sine Qua Non" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
Episode No.	Season 4, Episode 8
Writer(s)	Michael Taylor
Story by
Director	Rod Hardy
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)
Production No.	410
Nielsen Rating
US airdate	30 May 2008
CAN airdate	30 May 2008
UK airdate	27 May 2008
DVD release
Population	39,674 survivors ( 1)
Additional Info
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
Guess What's Coming to Dinner?	Sine Qua Non	The Hub
Related Information
Official Summary
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Listing of props for this episode
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			@ BW Media
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Overview

President Laura Roslin's abduction by the Cylon Hybrid triggers a bitter power struggle within the Fleet. The Quorum has little information and demands to know what happened, while Tom Zarek insists that he is to be declared interim president. Lee Adama opposes him and enlists the help of notorious lawyer Romo Lampkin to find a candidate for the post, leading to a surprising decision. Meanwhile, Admiral Adama and Colonel Tigh come to blows over Tigh's relationship with Caprica-Six and Adama's obsession to find Roslin.

Summary

Teaser

• With President Laura Roslin missing, a meeting is held by the Quorum of Twelve. Vice President Tom Zarek heads the meeting and tells the delegates that with Roslin missing, he is to be sworn in as interim President.
• Upon hearing the news, Lee Adama contacts his father, who doesn't take it well.
• Natalie, who has just been shot by Sharon Agathon, is taken to the infirmary. She starts to have a vision or projection that she is in a forest on a sunny day. In real life, she only focuses on the faces of those who are taking her to the infirmary.
• Dr. Cottle immediately starts to operate on her. When she tries to make physical contact, likely sensing that she is about to die, Cottle takes her hand. However, just as they operate, her image of the forest brightens to a bright flash. The second this happens, her heart monitor flat lines, and Cottle announces her death.
• Admiral Adama sees Sharon Agathon and is angered by her decision to kill an unarmed woman, even if she was a Cylon. Agathon starts to explain her dream about a Six taking away her child at the Opera House. Eventually, Adama orders a guard to take her away to the brig and refuses her access to her daughter.
• When Adama returns to the CIC, he hears that the Resurrection Hub has disappeared from its last known location.

Notes

• Sine qua non is a Latin phrase meaning "without which it could not be". It is famously used by Andrew Jackson, who says the following after receiving an honorary degree from Harvard: "E pluribus unum, my friends. Sine qua non."
• Most civilians appear to have incorrectly assumed that the basestar's disappearance was a deliberate act of kidnapping, possibly in retaliation for Natalie's shooting.
• The pistol Lampkin uses to threaten Adama is a Stallion. The model previously appeared prominently in "Home, Part II".
• The episode features the first explicit mention of artificial gravity in dialogue.
• The book Searider Falcon makes another appearance. Adama finds it in the derelict Raptor, somewhat singed.
• The lullaby Sharon Agathon hums to Hera is the same one hummed by Sharon Valerii to a captured Raider in "Flesh and Bone".
• The infamous number, 47, appears in this episode as well: Romo Lampkin tells Lee Adama that they went through 47 candidates for interim president when confronting him on Colonial One.
• While Tom Zarek claims that the government of the "past five years", it has only been about three and a half years since Laura Roslin and William Adama have risen to power.
• It can be inferred that James McManus is talking to Tom Zarek during the wireless interview, given that Zarek calls the interviewer "Jim".
• William Adama's comment about how often he had to repair his model ship is a reference to the end of "Maelstrom", as well as a possible inside-joke about the fact that Edward James Olmos smashed the very expensive prop in and ad-lib during the shooting of that episode.

Analysis

• William Adama's actions in the search for Laura Roslin, namely the unreasonable allocation of resources and putting the Fleet at unnecessary risk, are precisely the same actions he executed when searching for Kara Thrace in "You Can't Go Home Again". Similarly, it is Colonel Tigh who helps bring the end to Adama's irrational actions, this time without Roslin's help and more violently.
• The apparition of loved one dredged up by a survivor—this time Lance, the only remaining physical connection to Romo Lampkin's wife, Faye—is reminiscent of not only Adama's apparition of his ex-wife in "A Day in the Life", but of Saul Tigh's apparition of Ellen Tigh during the fourth season, in which they cling to some memory of their wives.
• Odd as it seems, Romo's erratic behavior towards Lee Adama is not wholly uncontrolled. Throughout the encounter, Lampkin forces Adama to defend his willingness to make tough decisions, his courage, and his optimism. He uses his personal tragedies to full effect, confronting Adama with the dead cat just as he used the memory of his love for Faye to manipulate Caprica-Six. His willingness to use any means necessary to do the job (either to acquit Baltar or to vet presidential candidates). He tacitly admits his plan towards the end, in his response to Adama's determination to make a positive difference: "Is that your last word?....Then swear it."
• Despite the fact that Galactica has left the Fleet before to engage combat, this episode marks the first time that the civilian Fleet is intentionally left without any defense. The only other time the Fleet was left without military aid was after Boomer's assassination attempt of William Adama, when Galactica accidentally jumped to different coordinates than the rest of the Fleet (Scattered).

Cylons

• The child of Caprica-Six and Tigh will be the first known fully Cylon child, should it come to full term.
• The ability of Tigh to impregnate Six indicates a fundamental difference between the Final Five and Significant Seven, as Significant Seven Cylons have been thus far unable to conceive with one another.

Questions

• Is there any significance to Natalie's dying visions? If so, what?
• What exactly happened to the rebel baseship and the Resurrection Hub?
• How will the Fleet react to an Adama as president?
• Will Caprica-Six's child remain a secret?
  • Will she be allowed/able to give birth to what would be the first fully Cylon child?
  • If so, what will happen to the child? Will Tigh take on fatherly responsibilities?
• How will the Quorum and the Fleet respond to Tigh's being left in charge of Galactica and the military?
• Who will be Tigh's XO?
• Will Adama manage to find Roslin by waiting out in deep space?
• Has Kara Thrace been re-accepted by her comrades?

Official Statements

• Michael Taylor discusses his spoiler-free impressions of a scene:

I was in the editing room, watching one of our talented editors assemble a rough cut of a single scene. Not a huge scene, just a relatively brief but quietly powerful scene between Adama and Tigh (you’ll see it in Episode 8, “Sine Qua Non”). What struck me is that while the dialogue was relatively simple, these two actors brought so much to it that the smallest looks and gestures carried immense weight. It made me realize anew how, after four seasons, these characters have accumulated so much history and nuance. As embodied by actors like Edward J. Olmos and Michael Hogan, they are wrenchingly human. Less characters than people I have now spent years with, and who still surprise me.

Noteworthy Dialogue

• William Adama confronts Saul Tigh about Caprica-Six's pregnancy:

William Adama: I know that you've been spending a lotta time interrogating the Six, but now the brig guards tell me that every time you order them out, you turn off the cameras.

Saul Tigh: I'm not torturing her, if that's what you're worried about.

Adama: I'm not. That I could almost understand. This I can't. Cottle tells me she's pregnant. What the frak have you been thinking, colonel? Do you deny it...? You don't... You can't. What the hell have you been thinking? Who's interrogating whom? How many of our secrets have you told this thing?

Tigh: How can you even ask me that? Question my loyalty?

Adama: Your loyalty? I need more than your loyalty. You're my first officer, I need judgment. I need your competence. You're jeopardizing this ship, putting it at risk because of your weaknesses.

Tigh: My weaknesses?

Adama: Yeah, your weaknesses!

Tigh: You're risking all our lives—for what? Our missing pilots? No—for a frakking woman! A frakking woman!

Adama: You watch what you frakkin' say about that woman! She's the president! Not some frakkin' skinjob that I've been banging! What do you think Ellen would say about this?

Tigh: Leave Ellen out of this.

Adama: What do you think Ellen would say about her husband impregnating a frakkin' Cylon prisoner?

Tigh: You motherfrakker! (violence ensues)

• Admiral Adama chews out Sharon Agathon for murdering Natalie:

Adama: You murdered an unarmed woman, and by doing so you put the lives of every single person in this fleet at risk; and quite possibly cost the lives of the president and your husband. You disobeyed the direct orders of your superior officers, but more importantly, you betrayed a promise to me. I trusted you.

Agathon: Sir, I will accept any form of punishment that you think I deserve. I just ask that you please don't take away Hera.

Adama: I'm afraid the brig is no place for a little girl. Guards! Get her out of my sight!

• Romo Lampkin to Lee Adama:

"Lampkin's First Rule of Legal Dynamics: When an irresistible force meets a movable object, stand aside and wait for the class action suit."

• More Lampkin:

Lampkin: So you can't be dissuaded, will you? Not even when you hear my fee?

Lee Adama: Fee?

Lampkin: Appearances to the contrary, I'm actually in this for the money. I have a reputation to maintain after all.

Adama: Ok, so what did Roslin offer you to defend Baltar.

Lampkin: (pointing at a small window in the bulkhead) Room with a view.

Adama: I'm not sure I can improve on that.

Lampkin: Then pro bono it is, counselor. Word to the wise: sometimes it's better to settle for what you've already got.

• Lampkin about political power and Lee Adama:

Lampkin: Quandary is, one doesn't generally get the chance to wield political power without the ambition to actively seek it. That same ambition often compromises the unselfish motives that began the quest. In other words, in a battle of it versus ego, that ego rarely wins.

Adama: Roslin never sought power.

Lampkin: Exception that proves the rule. One could argue that Laura Roslin is a study in repressed ambition, just like you Mister Adama. Never seeking out a job until it's handed to you. Flight leader, battlestar commander, Quorum delegate. Man doesn't carve out a path like that through life without...

Adama: Alright, enough of the psychoanalysis. Let's get back to the job at hand.

• Lampkin and Admiral Adama on the hangar deck, watching the deck crew and pilots at work:

Lampkin: Writs of forfeiture. The captains want to be absolved of any blame should anything untoward happen. One of the less ennobling consequences of a legal culture. No one wants responsibility. (hands him a pen to sign) Lee said you once gave him something before a mission. A lighter, wasn't it?

Adama It belonged to my father. Foolish to think a hunk of metal can keep him save.

Lampkin: And yet, that's what we do, isn't it? Hang on to hope in every hopelessly irrational way that we can. (watches the crew wishing each other luck) But not like those poor bastards. Giving away their luck just when they need it most. It's like they've given up.

Adama: If you've never been in combat, you have no idea what they're thinking.

Lampking: I've always imagined you were a realist Admiral, not one to indulge a vain hope at the cost of lives. But then, everyone has his limits. "Sine qua non", as they say.

Adama: Without which not.

Lampkin: Yes. Those things we deem essential, without which we cannot bear living. Without which life in general loses its specific value, becomes abstract.

Adama: You may have a point, counselor.

Lampkin: And while I'm on a role. Tom Zarek may not be an ideal president, but we could do worse.

Adama: You're right. There are limits to my realism. Goodbye counselor.

• Lampkin confronts Lee Adama after naming him the candidate for interim president:

Lampkin: Savor your victory Mr. Adama, because you'll never get the chance to serve (pulls out a gun and points it at Adama).

Adama: What are doing?

Lampkin: Why? Because you're perfect for the job of course. Because after the vicious separation that was Baltar's presidency and the bitter disappointment that was Roslin's, you are a shining beacon of hope. Only hope is the last thing we need. We're a doomed race. It's time that we made our peace with that essential truth.

Adama: Romo, what the hell are you talking...?

Lampkin: Why? You want to know why? (drops his duffel bag and kicks it over to Adama) Open it!

Adama: (Adama does so and finds Lance's corpse inside) Eww. Frak.

Lampkin: That's right. They killed my cat!

Adama: They?

Lampkin: They! Those debased dregs of humanity out there! Lost a tribe in search of a new home, so they can roost and rot again!

Adama: How long has the cat been dead?

Lampkin: "How long?" It's irrelevant! It's immaterial! It wasn't even my cat!

Adama: Romo, it's been dead for weeks.

Lampkin: It belonged to my wife. I just retrieved him from a vet on Gemenon when the bombs started to fall and fate presented me with a choice. I could get back on that shuttle, or...I could run home, try to save my family. How do you think I chose?

Adama: Romo, we all had to make difficult choices. You don't think I know? Your wife's name was Faye. You had two daughters. Jennifer and Kate. There were over two hundred passengers on that shuttle! Only a handful chose to stay behind. (Lampkin stares at him questioning) Yeah, that's right. It was in your file when you were handed the job as Baltar's counsel. And no one blamed you Romo, because at a certain point, we all made decisions that saved our lives at the cost of others. You think you're unique, Romo? Think your sins are so special?

Lampkin: Is that how it goes? You're gonna rest your entire case on that pathetic little bit of insight?

Adama: No. Unless, the clean start, the fresh slate, maybe they're illusions like you said. But at a certain point, faith in ourselves, in our right to survive as a species, as a people...it's not a given, it's a choice. Well, I made mine. And if you can't stomach that, then had damn well better squeeze that trigger right now. Go on. What are you waiting for? Or you can make a choice. Put your past behind you. Put the gun down, and help me, because I'm telling you, I'm gonna make a difference in this fleet.

Lampkin: Is that your final word?

Adama: That's up to you.

Lampkin: Then swear it. (the next scene shows Adama being sworn in as president)

Guest Stars

• Michael Hogan as Colonel Saul Tigh
• Kandyse McClure as Lieutenant Anastasia Dualla
• Kate Vernon as Virtual Ellen
• Mark Sheppard as Romo Lampkin
• Richard Hatch as Tom Zarek
• Donnelly Rhodes as Doctor Cottle
• Rekha Sharma as Tory Foster
• Leah Cairns as Lieutenant Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson
• Colin Lawrence as Lieutenant Hamish "Skulls" McCall
• Alexandra Thomas as Hera Agathon
• Donna Soares as Gemenon Delegate
• Andrew McIlroy as Jacob Cantrell
• Judith Maxie as Picon Delegate
• Iris Paluly as Speaking Delegate #2
• Ryan McDonell as Lieutenant Eammon "Gonzo" Pike
• Veena Sood as Quorum Delegate
• Laara Sadiq as Priestess